British taxpayers face an extra £1.5 billion bill to pay for the increased
costs of Brussels bureaucracy, as governments warn that the cost of pensions
for EU officials is set to double.

The Daily Telegraph has seen a confidential letter, signed by Britain and seven other governments, which reveals that they are "very concerned" because the cost of EU pensions is forecast to double to more than £2 billion a year by 2045.

Eurocrats already retire on a gold-plated 60 per cent of final salary scheme – on average £57,000 each – which costs the cash-strapped national governments almost £1 billion a year. But it is growing fast because of the increased number of staff employed as the EU expanded from 15 to 27 countries since 2004.

The letter, from the eight countries who pay more into the EU budget than they get out of it in benefits, also reveals that the European Commission is demanding a 26 per cent increase to pay for the costs of its civil service for the next seven year budget period.

The proposed 2014 to 2020 budget would take the cost of the European civil service from £45 billion to £57bn, an increase that countries say is wrong at a time when national public sector workers are facing job losses and pay freezes or cuts.

In a bid to cut the pensions bill, British, German, French, Austrian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish and Swedish governments have suggested that officials pay higher contributions of up 50 per cent of the scheme – currently they pay only 11.6 per cent.

However, the commission has refused to discuss the proposals and has also ignored repeated requests, from all 27 EU countries, to table plans to reduce staffing costs from between £4 to £12 billion "in line with a similar level of savings being implemented in national civil services".

"Most member states are responding to current economic and fiscal circumstances with efficiency measures or other reforms affecting the terms and conditions of their national civil servants," said the letter. "The staff of the European Institutions should share the burden."

The eight governments also want cuts to the infamous "gravy train" allowances of EU officials, particularly an expat perk that gives the majority of Eurocrats 16 per cent on top of their salary for their entire working life at a cost of £200 million a year.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, is angry over commission proposals for a seven year EU budget that would amount to an extra £9.8 billion bill for Britain at a time when the government will be making painful cuts to national public services.

The commission has dismissed the letter however, despite it coming from the EU's main paymasters, saying it will only deal with requests that have been signed by all 27 member states.

"The commission has not provided models demonstrating where extra savings could be found. The whole procedure can only proceed once the 27 member states have reached a joint position," said a spokesman.

EU diplomats have insisted all 27 countries asked for new staffing cost reduction plans in March and warn that the commission is heading for a major confrontation with the national governments who pay its bills.

"This is a serious letter, from countries that pay more into the budget than they get back and all there is a radio silence. It is not good enough," said a diplomat.

Bill Cash, the Conservative chairman of the House of Commons European scrutiny committee, has called on Mr Cameron to veto the 2014-2020 budget unless he is guaranteed cuts to the EU civil service budget.

"Britain enjoys a veto on the seven year budget and should use it unless there is a sharp cut in these costs," he said.

Nigel Farage MEP, the leader of Ukip, said: "Mr Cameron's attempts to prevent this are being dismissed out of hand. Any thought he might have that he can rebalance our relationship with the EU are nothing more than pious hopes."